Two examples of egregious exaggeration (about Israel and Russia)
This is the Age of Exaggeration
I don’t think I exaggerate when I claim we live in an age of exaggeration. Our president does it, his critics do it, world leaders do it, old media does it, and so does new media. Start to watch for it and you’ll see it everywhere. If not, then you may be one of the perpetrators and somewhat blind to it. Today I want to bang on two recent egregious examples.
Breaking Points smears Israel yet again
A segment on the YouTube show Breaking Points screams “Israel DEMANDS all of southern Syria”
Oh please.
It seems like Breaking Points cannot do a story about Israel without breathlessly distorting the truth, or outright lying. Everything I’ve seen them report about Israel is egregiously exaggerated. In this case…
Israel has not demanded sovereignty over southern Syria. It simply wants that area to be demilitarized. There are two reasons for this…
- Syria has been complicit in Hezbollah’s aggressions against Israel
- Syria is currently ruled by people with ties to Al Qaeda and ISIS
Once upon a time, the UN itself was a big fan of demilitarized zones in that area. That’s why they passed Resolution 1701 demanding that Hezbollah retreat north of the Nitali River in Lebanon, thereby creating a demilitarized zone. That is exactly what Israel is seeking in Syria.
NOTE: Israel complied with that UN resolution and returned behind their border but Hezbollah did not. Hezbollah subsequently and repeatedly attacked civilians from positions within the UN’s requested demilitarized zone.
There are other demilitarized zones in various places all over the globe. They maintain peace. But…
The rabidly anti-Israel Breaking Points describes this demand by Israel as an attempted annexation. Does that mean the DM in Korea represents an annexation on the part of the North or the South? Of course not. It simply means the area is demilitarized for both sides. Breaking Points must know and understand this, but they prefer to bloviate and incite.
I could not stomach watching the whole vile segment, but I doubt they mentioned that Druze communities in southern Syria have actually asked Israel to annex them. The Druze do not want to be ruled by the Sunni Muslims.
That’s right, the Druze prefer the Jews to their fellow Muslims. That says a lot I think.
In my opinion, Breaking Points, in many ways on many subjects, is far worse than the old establishment media, and you have to work hard to be worse than those guys.
Now here comes the next exaggeration…
Zelensky makes a silly claim about Russia and Europe
The YouTube headline screams “If Ukraine falls Europe falls: Why Europe can’t defend against Russia without Ukraine”
Look, I support Ukraine and condemn Putin, but neither thing requires anyone to believe things that aren’t true.
Zelensky gave a speech claiming that Europe could not defend itself against Russia without Ukraine. Nonsense.
Was Zelensky talking about the same Russia that can’t even gain control of the Donbas, or keep Ukraine out of Kursk?
Repeat after me — Russia has a GDP the size of Texas. Russia excels at alcoholism. Russia couldn’t even make it to Warsaw, let alone Berlin.
This doesn’t mean Russia isn’t a threat to its smaller neighbors. It is. But it’s no threat to Europe as a whole. Please, can we all stop exaggerating, unless it’s for comic effect?
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Copyright © Perry Willis 2025
Perry Willis is the co-founder of Downsize DC and the Zero Aggression Project. He co-created, with Jim Babka, the Read the Bills Act, the One Subject at a Time Act, and the Write the Laws Act, all of which have been introduced in Congress. He is a past Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party and was the campaign manager for Harry Browne for President in 2000.
